Reflecting on the Torah

JACKSONVILLE, FL — Twelve-year-old Zachary Silverstein of Jacksonville knows that on the day of his bar mitzvah in February, he will not only have to read from his synagogue’s 800-year-old Torah scroll but carry it around the sanctuary as well.

“I am nervous about dropping it, but I feel confident that I can hold it up,” said Silverstein, a member at Congregation Ahavath Chesed in Mandarin.

The focus on Torah and Judaism is intensified for Silverstein and millions of Jews around the world as they observe Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which begins at sunset today.

The festival marks the beginning of Judaism’s High Holidays season, which is followed by Simchat Torah, a celebration of the Torah in Jewish life and history.

Here are some questions and answers about the Torah and Torah scrolls.

What is the Torah?

It is the five books of Moses, which make up the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

“This is Judaism’s most holy object,” said Rabbi Shmuli Novack, spiritual leader of Chabad of Southside, which ritually welcomed its own Torah scroll on Sept. 2.

What is a Torah scroll?

A scroll consists of up to about 80 panels of parchment upon which the five books are handwritten in Hebrew, Novack said. He said there are hundreds of laws governing the making of the scrolls, dictating everything from the shape of its approximately 600,000 letters to the kind of parchment and ink that are used.

“You can’t go buy ink at Office Depot,” Novack said. “It has to be the right color and thickness.”

How are the scrolls made?

It is a painstaking process that takes at least a year, Novack said. The scrolls are written by specially trained, ordained Jewish scribes.

“Ours was made in Israel by a respected Hasidic scribe” and cost about $40,000, he said.

Is a document that important stored in a special place?

Yes. Torah scrolls are stored in arks, which vary in size and design from synagogue to synagogue, said Rabbi Holly Levin Cohn at Congregation Ahavath Chesed. Arks are like cabinets that store the scrolls and can be ornately decorated.

“They are like pieces of artwork, almost,” she said, adding they are usually the focus of the sanctuary.

Cohn said her congregation has seven Torah scrolls, including the 800-year-old document that was rescued from the Holocaust in Europe and obtained after World War II.

“We don’t read from it anymore, but kids from our bar and bat mitzvah [classes] carry it when we walk around the sanctuary,” she said.

Are the scrolls themselves well-adorned?

The Torah is adorned in a dressing similar to what a high priest would wear, Cohn said. “A tunic, a belt, a breast plate and a pointer.”

The pointer is necessary because the oils in human skin could damage the parchment.

When are Torah scrolls taken out of the arks and read?

Only on religious occasions such as daily and special services and rituals. “You can’t take it out of the ark just for fun – you can’t take it out and read it any time you want,” Novack said.

It’s also brought out for holiday services, including the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur observances, Cohn added.

Who can read from it?

That depends on the community. In some Jewish traditions, only men can read from the scroll, while in others women and children who have been through their bar or bat mitzvah may do so, Cohn said.

How does Simchat Torah fit in with the High Holidays?

Cohn said the festival, which falls on Oct. 4, caps off the holiday season. The New Year is observed and followed by 10 days of repentance that culminate on Yom Kippur. Then comes Sukkot, which reminds observers how temporary and fragile life is.

“And then it goes into Simchat Torah, a day to celebrate its values and the things we’ve just been through” during the High Holidays, Cohn said.